Mobile Credit Card Readers Quiz

Small businesses that don’t work out of a brick-and-mortar location, along with individuals who sell products and services on the side, are taking advantage of the convenience of mobile credit card readers. These handy devices, which plug into a smartphone or tablet and allow you to swipe a customer’s credit card anywhere, are starting getting very popular. How much do you know about them?

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Question 1 of 10

Which of the following mobile credit card readers is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey?

the GoPayment

the Square

Jack Dorsey of Twitter fame and his friend Jim McKelvey came out with the Square, which was among the first popular mobile credit card readers to come onto the market.

the PAYware mobile reader

Question 2 of 10

Which company was the first to come out with a mobile credit card reader that was NFC-enabled?

Intuit

VeriFone

Erply

Erply announced in August 2011 that it was coming out with a mobile credit card reader that was NFC-enabled. NFC stands for near-field communication and refers to the technology that allows customers with credit card information stored on their smartphones to wave the device over an NFC-enabled reader to conduct the transaction -- no swiping required.

Question 3 of 10

At the 2011 Black Hat security conference, which mobile credit card reader did hackers use to demonstrate how to take advantage of its lack of encryption?

the Square

Using the Square reader and software, hackers Adam Laurie and Zac Franken demonstrated how it was easy for hackers to transmit stolen credit card information into a smartphone without physically swiping a card.

Square quickly became popular among individuals because it doesn't require a merchant account.

Question 9 of 10

What's the name for theft of credit card information, usually by means of a scanning device?

skimming

Skimming refers to stealing credit card information, usually using a scanning mechanism. Criminals are known to attach these to credit card scanners at gas station pumps, for instance.

sweeping

grazing

Question 10 of 10

VeriFone’s CEO accused which company of not using encryption for its credit card reader?

Intuit

Square

Douglas Bergeron of VeriFone said Square was unsafe for consumers because it didn’t encrypt data before transmitting it into a smartphone. Square’s CEO responded that these claims were not fair or accurate.